MELLON ARENA Isles, Pens to resume hostilities

Eric Cairns was an agitator during Saturday's game at Long Island.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- New York Islanders forward Eric Cairns is one of the NHL's best agitators and has a way of burrowing deep under the skin of opposing players.
His bristling nature certainly got the Pittsburgh Penguins dander up when the two teams met Saturday on Long Island.
Cairns was involved in a pair of fights, one with Kelly Buchburger and the other against Steve McKenna. He also took a roughing penalty and logged 12 of his 23 penalty minutes this season in the Islanders' 7-2 win.
Cairns may have been the catalyst, but he didn't instigate all the extraneous activities during the game.
Jason Weimer and former Penguins defenseman Sven Butenschon dropped the gloves against Matt Bradley and Ryan Malone, respectively, as the two teams combined for 88 minutes on 24 penalties.
Four fights
The game had four fights erupted and Pittsburgh took a team penalty for abusive language.
New York will visit Mellon Arena in a rematch tonight.
"I like the way our guys reacted," Penguins forward Steve Webb said. "Our guys initiated a lot of the stuff out there. Their guys were stirring it up, but we were using the body and getting physical."
Webb knows all about New York's penchant for chippy play. He was Islanders property as a restricted free agent until a week ago, when the Penguins picked him up on waivers when the Philadelphia Flyers attempted to sign him.
"I don't know if were going to do the same things," McKenna said. "That was a product of frustration. They took a couple of liberties on our guys and, if they're going to do that, there was no sense fighting all their tough guys. We're going to have to take liberties on them. But I don't see it escalating into anything major."
Too many goals
Pittsburgh (1-4-2) has more important things to worry about. The Penguins have a 3.21 goals-against average, the third worst in the league; have produced just 12 goals; netted only five at even strength; and allowed nearly as many short-handed goals -- four -- as the five scored with the man-advantage.
"Obviously, we have to forget about what happened in that game and come out and play Wednesday," Buchburger said. "Whatever happened in that game, we don't want to dwell on it because we lost the game and it obviously didn't work for us."
Changes are already in the offing. Pittsburgh has altered its first three lines and will move right wing Aleksey Morozov to the team's top line with Mario Lemieux and Martin Straka.
Saturday's starting goaltender, Sebastien Caron, will sit on the bench and rookie Marc-Andre Fleury will take his spot between the pipes.
Fleury started all four home games and has the team's lone win this season, while Caron is 0-2-1 in the team's three road games. Fleury has a 1.98 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage that ranks third in the league.
Another adjustment to the lineup will be the additions of forward Ramzi Abid and defenseman Drake Berehowsky, who were scratched from Saturday's loss. They will replace center Milan Kraft, who has dressed for two games this season, and blueliner Dan Focht, who will miss his second contest.
"We have a lot of guys right now and we're just trying to get guys in and out," said Pittsburgh head coach Eddie Olczyk. "We're looking for combinations and the right mix right now and it comes back to one thing, and that's having only one win."